Elementals
by solitaryloner
Summary: Everyone likes to see some mischief between the gods, especially when love is involved. Except that this time the mischief appears to have gone a little too far, especially since the God of Mischief himself has been affected by all that happened. Plus point: at least ever-bullied Cupid seems to be enjoying the romantic drama taking place. Len/Miku/Luki, rated T for stupidity.
1. Chapter 1

The world is governed by forces that mere mortals cannot understand. Maybe that's why humans fear these primordial forces - because they didn't understand them. And people always fear things they do not understand.

Yet, without these forces, the world wouldn't exist at all. Perhaps humans could come up with different theories as to how to world was formed - the Big Bang, and other scientific theories which explained away everything.

The gods, however, they knew better than that. The world had been created by them, especially by the gods that were in charge of the four different physical elements - Fire, Water, Earth and Air. These four had once been one, creating the physical world, before separating to reign over each one's own domain.

The goddess of Fire was known as Meiko Sakine. She had a fiery temper, and her realm was those of volcanoes and geysers. Anything hot, anything fiery, was under her sphere of influence. She was easily angered, and she did not forgive or forget. When her fearsome temper was roused, the world suffered as she sent forth volcanic eruptions and droughts.

The God of Water and the Ocean was known as Kaito Shion. He was calmer than his elemental counterpart, cool and even-tempered. He controlled water, which gave him a large realm as the world was mostly ocean and seas. Though he was usually mild and slow to anger, when he was offended he devastated the land with floods and tsunamis.

The Goddess of Earth, sometimes also called Gaia or Mother Earth, looked nowhere as old as her name.

Her actual name was Miku Hatsune, and she was usually sweet and kind. She provided humans with the fertile soil they needed for food. However, recently mortals had been exploiting her domain, ruining its plentiful harvests. It angered her, and when she was angry she caused earthquakes and tremors which destroyed buildings and lives.

As for Air, there was not one, but two gods. Rin and Len Kagamine, a pair of twins who were as mischievous and ethereal as their element. The twins were joyous and happy-go-lucky, the least temperamental of the four elements. However, when they did get upset, they were known to ravage the land with hurricanes and cyclones.

The five gods of the four elements weren't the strongest gods, of course. There were others, numerous gods, and they only controlled the four elements. However, they were the ones who had created the physical world.

There were stronger gods, like the God of the Underworld. His name was Gakupo Kamui, and he was the god who controlled the land spirits went to after the demise of their physical bodies. And there was the king of the gods, who was known as Rinto Kagamine, who was also the elder brother of the two gods of Air.

And no one could ever forget the seductive Goddess of Love and Beauty, Luka Megurine. She was a mischievous one, who frequently stirred up romantic troubles between the gods.

One day, Luka was bored. She drifted through the halls of the Gods, the place where all of the gods resided...other than the five elemental gods and the god of the underworld, of course.

There wasn't anyone to accompany her, they were all doing their own business, and she was wondering what she should do to entertain herself.

An idea came to mind, and she perked up. She ran to find her brother, Luki Megurine, the god of Mischief and Thieves, and told him about her idea. He regarded her sceptically, but with that familiar twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

''Between the elemental gods? Well, I don't see why not...'' Luki grinned like the little devil he was. ''Which two gods do you have in mind?''

Luka thought. She wanted one of the gods to chase the other, while the other tried to spurn their advances. Two gods which had always been known for the way they attracted others...except each other.

''Let's have fun with Miku and Len. Len has always been able to get whichever goddess he likes, except Miku. He gave up trying aeons ago, but...I can rekindle that want,'' she snapped her fingers, and a faint glimmer of light shone at her fingertips. Her brother's smile widened.

''Why not?'' he held out his palm, and Luka rubbed her fingers together, chanting under her breath as she did so. The pink sparkles she rubbed out drifted onto Luki's hand, and he closed his fist. ''Let me guess. I just have to put the powder in his nectar.''

''Of course. You know how I work, Luki,'' Luka and her brother shared an evil grin. ''Finally. Entertainment. Let's see how the great Air god Len Kagamine will react when he's continuously spurned by the Goddess of Earth.''

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Luki knew, from past experiences with helping his sister, that the powder took its time to take effect. It started off by making the affected god think of the target, then slowly build up his lust and desire for the other god until he went mad from want. Luki grinned.

Oh, this would be fun. He trotted up the hill towards the pale yellow palace Len and Rin Kagamine lived in. They lived not too far from the other gods, in the Halls, but they preferred to stay in the more windy areas in wilder skies. Apparently the winds were stronger there.

Len was Luki's friend, but Luki wanted to see this. Len had always been confident about his ability to make women desire him - women took one look at his beauty and fell, hard. He had been mistaken, numerous times, for Eros before, the god of Love and Desire.

Luki didn't bother knocking when he reached the palace, instead leaping up to an open window and sliding in. Rin Kagamine, who was inside the room, yelped and backed away from him before realising who it was.

''Luki Megurine! When are you going to start coming in through the front door like everyone else?'' she asked reproachfully.

Luki pouted. ''What's the fun in that?'' he complained. ''It's boring. I'm known as Mischief for a reason, you know.'' His eyes scanned the room. ''Where's Len?''

''In his room,'' Rin frowned at him, her blonde hair fluttering in a breeze that always seemed to surround the air gods. ''Why?''

''I'm here to say hi!'' Luki said brightly. He trotted out of the room before she could say anything else and set off in the direction of Len Kagamine's room.

It took him a while to reach it - the winds within the palace were always so damn strong. Luki's hair was now wind-swept and messy, and it kept blowing into his eyes. Annoyingly.

''Len!'' he shouted, blocking the gales from punching his face using his arm. ''I'm dying out here!''

The door snapped open as the winds rattled it, and Len was standing there with his hands on his hips, his blonde hair blowing into his face. His lips tilted up into a playful smirk. ''Stop,'' he said softly, and at once the winds ceased around them. Luki sighed.

''You enjoyed that, didn't you?'' Luki strode past Len into the room. Len chuckled and followed after Luki, who was lounging in Len's favourite armchair.

''So why the sudden visit?'' Len asked his pink-haired friend. Luki stared up at Len, then flashed a quick smile.

''I'm bored,'' the God of Mischief pouted. ''Let's drink some nectar!'' he clapped his hands, and two bottles of nectar, which was the heavenly wine of the gods, appeared in his hands. He handed one bottle, which was spiked with his sister's drug, to the air god.

Len shrugged and took it, and together they downed the contents. The blonde wiped his mouth, blinking. ''Tastes funny,'' he commented. ''But it's nectar, anyway...''

Luki grinned. This was going to be so fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Len Kagamine scowled, trying to push images of forest green eyes and teal-coloured hair out of his mind. Why was he thinking of _her, Miku Hatsune, _all of a sudden?

He had tried to forget all about the lovely earth goddess, ever since she had spurned him. Repeatedly. Over a span of three centuries. It was infuriating, that she refused to accept him or his affections.

_In what way am I not up to her expectations? It's not like I'm some lowly human, seeking her. I'm the god of Air._

Len Kagamine was used to having women fall at his feet, in awe of his divine beauty. The fact that the sweet goddess of earth, Miku Hatsune, _didn't _do likewise, irritated him.

She was the only ink blot on his otherwise flawless record, and he had resolved to do his best to forget about...the ink blot. And for a while, it had actually worked, though his failure to win over Miku Hatsune always hovered around the back of his mind.

So why was he suddenly remembering her, _thinking _of her, again? Thinking of her pretty face, her petite, slender body, that long silky hair he wanted to fist and bury his face in -

_Gods, I really have to stop thinking of her. _Scowling, he strode out of his room, the winds clearing around him as he stalked off to find his sister and other half.

''Rin!'' he called as he finally found her, talking to Rui Kagene, the goddess of wisdom. His blonde sister frowned as she turned to face her irate brother, who was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

''What do you want, Len?'' she asked impatiently. ''I'm talking to Rui about important issues. This better be good.''

He smiled briefly at the black-haired goddess of wisdom, who had raised her eyebrows, and turned back to glare at his sister. ''Come out. It's important.'' He walked out of the room.

Rin heaved a long-suffering sigh and rose from the armchair, following after her brother. Out in the passageway, she tilted her head up to stare at him as he frowned. ''What do you want?''

Len exhaled. ''Is Miku still living in the same underground caves as she used to? You should know...since you're friends with her.''

His sister was friendly and well-liked, enough that even the reclusive, shy goddess of earth was willing to talk to her on occasion. Rin's brow furrowed as she thought.

''Why do you want to know?'' she asked bluntly. ''She can't stand Air, you know that. I'm surprised she's even willing to chat with me.''

''Just...tell...me,'' Len gritted out. His sister's lips tilted up into a knowing smirk.

''You like her again, don't you?'' she said in a sing-song voice. ''Brother, you _do _know that's never going to work out, don't you? She can't stand Air. As I've already mentioned.''

''What makes you think that I fancy her? I know a lost cause when I see one,'' he scoffed. Though he himself wondered whether or not he was speaking the truth.

''Fine. Yes, she's still living in the underground cavern networks as she always does...she might not be living in the same cavern now, though.'' Rin wrinkled her nose. ''You know how fickle she is about her dwellings.''

''I know how fickle she is about _everything _in general,'' Len muttered. Again, an image of her vivid eyes, the colour of a lush summer forest, flashed through his mind, and he hissed in frustration. _I'm going to find her and tell her to stop weaving whatever damn spell she has cast over me._

''But seriously, why do you ask? I thought you vowed to stop chasing after her centuries ago,'' Rin cocked her head, eyes curious.

''I think she's weaving a spell over me or something,'' Len sighed and slumped against the wall, his eyes closing. ''I can't stop thinking about her. She just suddenly popped into my mind, and she won't get out.''

''When?'' Rin blinked up at him. Len thought.

''Yesterday. Two days after Luki and I got drunk on all that nectar,'' Len admitted a little reluctantly. Rin gasped.

''Did Luki spike your drink?'' she asked excitedly. ''He's Mischief...and he's the brother of Luka Megurine! Don't forget who she is.''

''I know what Luka's magic tastes like...'' Len grimaced as he recalled the last time he had accidentally inhaled some of the Goddess of Love's magic. He had been lusting after a _horse _until she undid the spell. ''And if my nectar was really spiked with her love magic, my drink would have tasted of roses and milk.''

True, the nectar _had _tasted a little...off. But it was more of the 'matured wine' off than tampered off. Unless...unless Luka had worked a different spell?

But he doubted it - how many different ways could you possibly work a love spell? ''I still think Miku's out to torture me.''

Rin rolled her eyes at her wayward brother. ''Think like that, then, but don't try and seduce her or anything when you go visit her. She'll scream her head off, and I'll have to face her wrath about my lack of control over you.''

Len glared at his sister before he disappeared. Rin wondered what exactly he had in plan for the goddess of earth.

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Luka Megurine yawned. Her magic should have started its effect by now, and slowly her lips curved up into a smile.

She had made sure that it was slightly different from her usual magic - Len had tasted her spells before, and he would no doubt suspect it was her. No, this time her magic didn't taste of her usual roses and milk.

It tasted of nectar that was slightly over-matured. And it took effect differently from her usual spells, too - instead of causing her victim to lust after another slowly and gradually, until they grew mad with desire, this time its effect was rather...different.

Her spell this time would cause Len to _want _Miku Hatsune from the start. And it would make him want her so badly, he would be willing to kill for the goddess. He would get to keep his sanity, but...

Watching him threaten to kill anyone who went near Miku Hatsune would be even more entertaining than watching him go insane with lust. Luka grinned as her brother entered her room, looking a little ill.

''Yes, Luki?'' Luka perked up, watching in concern as the God of Mischief clutched at her door frame. He glanced at her.

''Do you...have remedies for your spells?'' he asked faintly. Luka's eyes widened in shock and shook her head. What would he want a remedy for? Did he change his mind about tricking Len? Or, was it as she suddenly feared...

''I accidentally swallowed some of the spiked wine when I gave it to Len. I forgot it was drugged, and we...swapped bottles for a while,'' Luki grimaced. ''What kind of spell did you cast this time, Luka?''

''Luki!'' Instantly, she went over to him, looking worriedly into his eyes. ''Gods, I'm sorry...but there's no antidote. It'll take months to wear off, too. And as for the effects...'' she bit her lower lip, and Luki glared up at her.

''What are the effects?'' he asked, deathly quiet. Luka Megurine sighed.

''I chose not to tamper with the state of mind this time. From the start, you will lust for Miku Hatsune, and you will be willing to kill just to be near her.'' Her fingers clenched into fists. ''You'll want to kill Len if you see him going anywhere near Miku, and you'll kill anyone who tries to keep you from going to her, too.''

Not a spell of want, but a spell of possession. It changed men from rational beings to beings who desired a woman so much they would kill to keep her to themselves.

Luki groaned. ''Why didn't you tell me?'' he closed his eyes. ''Even now, I _need _to find her, to see her, to touch her. Her teal hair, silky, her green eyes, and her pale skin - I want it so bad,'' he ended with a slight whimper.

''I can't revoke the spell. Maybe, if you keep away from Len and Miku, you'll -''

Luki's eyes snapped open, and his teeth were bared into a snarl. ''I won't let Len go anywhere near her,'' he hissed, and before Luka could say anything he had disappeared.

Luka sighed. _Well, things have gotten a more interesting twist now, no?_


	3. Chapter 3

Len was sure that he was at the right place. Rin had said that Miku hadn't moved out of the underground caverns, after all.

Geographically, the earth goddess resided in one of the most secretive islands in the dangerous area of ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle. The earth goddess and the water god were good friends, it was known, and Kaito Shion himself watched over the delicate goddess.

Which was why the Bermuda Triangle and the islands in it, the place Miku Hatsune made her home, was so incredibly dangerous. Kaito Shion wanted to ensure that no one could ever hurt the goddess, who was usually so sweet she couldn't bring herself to harm a fly...

Unless someone really, really pissed her off. The last time she had gotten pissed off, she had caused an off-the-scale earthquake, which had devastated ancient Greece's capital, the city of Athens. And she had gotten pissed at, well, Len. The capricious, stubborn air god.

That didn't deter Len now, though. He wanted Miku Hatsune, and he was going to get her to agree to give him, to give _them, _a chance. After all, no woman could resist his charms for long. Women loved him.

They usually took one look at him, then fell totally, irrevocably in love with him. Which made him wonder why Miku Hatsune was so determined to push him away. Just because their elements warred and clashed?

''What do you want, Len?'' he heard a voice sound behind him. Len's eyes narrowed, swirls of air forming around his fingertips. Warily, he turned around to face the newcomer.

The handsome god of water regarded him with his calm blue eyes, though there was suspicion in their depths. ''Are you looking for Miku?'' he asked, suspiciously friendly.

''Maybe I am,'' Len replied coolly. ''What business is it of yours, Kaito Shion? It's not like you're her life-mate, or anything like that.''

Kaito shrugged. ''I know I'm not. I see her as nothing more than a little sister. You, on the other hand...'' Kaito stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as well. ''You know perfectly well how she feels about you. Why are you just so persistent about this?''

''Persistent?'' Len spluttered. ''There's seriously something wrong with Miku and your concepts of time flow. The last time I came to look for her was eight centuries ago,'' he snorted.

''And that wasn't very welcomed, either, if you can remember clearly,'' Kaito mumbled under his breath. Len's sharp ears still picked it up, though, and cocking his head he thought.

To be honest, he couldn't remember how he had been welcomed, the last time he came to look for Miku Hatsune - but he remembered that he hadn't liked it. Not one bit. Which led him to wonder, why was he here for more torture?

Because all of a sudden, he couldn't get his mind off her, and he wanted her to remove her spell from him, while he still had his sense of logic.

''I'm here for business, and I'm not here to woo her or force her to accept my proposal,'' Len scowled defensively at the blue-haired water god. ''What are you, her father or something?''

Kaito regarded him with thinning patience. ''Fine. Go into the caverns,'' Kaito inclined his head towards the cave which led to the complex underground cavern networks that was the earth goddess' home, ''but you won't be able to find her. You know that, right?''

''I have my methods,'' Len replied shortly. ''I'm an elemental god as well, Kaito. And we all have our own ways of finding each other...regardless of whether or not we want to be found,'' he added, voice trailing off.

Kaito sighed and disappeared, returning to his underwater palace. Kaito usually spent more time at the heavenly hall of the gods, but he occasionally ventured to his underwater palace - usually when he grew bored.

When Kaito was around, in the mortal realm, the number of tsunamis, floods and other water-related disasters also tended to increase. It made Len wonder if Kaito really was as benevolent as he seemed.

Or was he really just as bored and mischievous as Luki Megurine, Len's good friend, was?

Len strolled confidently into the cave, following the passage as it started sloping downwards, further into the heart of the earth. Soon, the one passageway he was following branched out into other caves, and he stopped.

Closing his eyes, he summoned air to him, and wind whipped around his body, playfully ruffling his blonde hair. It surrounded his body in a mini-tornado, and he smiled. His element, air. Wind. Even storm - though he had to rely a little on Kaito, for storms.

He loved his element, he admitted that. And he hated being underground - it made him feel trapped, especially when he couldn't see the sky. He sighed.

Nevertheless, he was here to speak with Miku Hatsune, and he wouldn't rest until he had the chance to talk to her about lifting her little enchantment. He was sure she had cast a spell over him - there was no other way he could suddenly start _burning _for her, wanting her, otherwise! He hadn't seen her in _centuries._

He wondered whether she had changed in any way. Suddenly unbearably eager to see her, he flicked his fingers, sending the wind out towards all the different branches. Then he leant against the cavern wall and waited.

In the blink of an eye, the breezes were back, whispering in his ear which way to go. He smirked - he loved his little pets, they were so reliable and useful. Snapping his fingers, he released them from their bonds, and the breezes disappeared.

He set down in the direction the winds had told him to go, and before long, after following numerous twists and turns, he eventually reached a large cavern, where silk drapings were covering the entrance. He smiled.

Before he could brush the drapes aside, however, a solid wall of rock suddenly pushed up before him, blocking his way in. Len scowled. ''Hatsune! I know you're in there!''

''What do you want this time, Len?'' he heard her voice call out. He froze as he processed that sweet voice. Ah...hearing that voice...

It was a sweet, melodious soprano, like the tinkling of wind chimes. _Strange, that the voice of the earth goddess reminds me of my own element. _But that wasn't what made him pause - no, her voice was unimaginably smooth and sensuous.

Her voice was enough to send a man to his knees, in sheer desire for her. Len swallowed. ''I need to talk to you. It's about business. I'm not here to propose to you again.''

''Really?'' she sounded suspicious. ''You're not here to try kidnapping me again, either?''

''That happened so long ago, can we not bring it up again?'' Len flicked his blonde hair out of his eyes in irritation. Yes, so maybe trying to kidnap her in a bid to win her affections wasn't one of the smartest things he had ever done.

''Fine,'' now she sounded amused. Len closed his eyes at the sweet sound of her melodious voice. It was just so damn _perfect. _Though he was sure that he had never been so deeply affected by her voice before.

Not even when he had been obsessed with her enough to try kidnapping her. ''So can I come in and discuss...matters with you?''

''What matters?'' still suspicious, but this time with a hint of curiosity. Len took that to be a good sign, and stretching he yawned.

''Let me in, and I'll tell you,'' he purred seductively. There was an audible sigh.

Then the rock wall sank back down, leaving behind no trace that it had ever existed. Len stepped across the boundary, brushing aside the silken drapes which covered the cavern entrance. He wondered what to expect.

His eyes searched the luxuriously decorated cave he had just stepped into, seeking out the latest, unexpected person of his desire. When he saw a glimpse of green, he focused on it.

Miku Hatsune rose from her bed, her green eyes narrowed at him. And she was gorgeous. Len couldn't take his eyes off her.

Dressed in a simple white silk dress, it was the same shade as her creamy pale skin. Her eyes were lush, vivid, a startling emerald he had never been able to forget. Her hair was teal, a lovely mix of blue and green, and it cascaded in gentle waves down her back, framing her petite frame. She looked like a delicate doll.

And she was beautiful beyond words. Nothing could come close to describing her utter perfection. Len stared, and he hoped that there wasn't drool coming out of his mouth.

_I want her so much. I want her so much, it's driving me insane._

''So, Len Kagamine. God of Air,'' her full lips parted, and he gazed at her mouth, desperately wanting a small taste of those lips. ''What do you need to discuss with me?''


	4. Chapter 4

Len shook himself. He wasn't here to propose to her or anything. No. Not at all. Though, of course, he badly wanted to. ''I have a question for you, Miku. And I want you to answer as honestly as possible.''

Miku rolled her large green eyes. ''What do you want to know, Len?'' she asked, clearly bored. He narrowed his eyes at her, and against his will his eyes drifted to her chest. _No, I'm not going to look at those...mm. Yummy._

He shook his head. ''Did you cast any kind of spell over me or anything?'' he demanded. Almost as an afterthought, he added, ''If you did, you can tell me. I won't get mad.''

Miku looked adorably confused, tilting her head. Her long teal hair cascaded down her back in gentle waves, spilling over her white bedsheets. Len could just imagine himself, fisting that hair, running his fingers through that thick silky mass...''I didn't do anything to you. Why do you ask?''

''You didn't?'' Len was starting to get a bad feeling about this. He looked into the depths of her emerald eyes, innocent and guile-free, and he doubted that she was lying.

If she wasn't the one who did anything...then didn't that mean it was _Luka _who was messing around with him again? With the help of her brother? That pissed Len off, especially because that would mean his sister was right.

Luki must have slipped some of his sister's magic into the nectar they were drinking, a couple of days ago. No wonder it had tasted so funny. _How could I have been so dumb? Luki would never offer free nectar without there being some kind of catch!_

Wait...if the nectar was spiked...Len frowned, trying to recall. Something had happened between him and Luki, something about the nectar...what had they done with the nectar? Unfortunately, the only thing Len could remember from their drinking spree was the both of them becoming extremely drunk.

Gods, what kind of spell had Luka cast over him? He knew what her spells did - they caused the mental states of her victims to slowly deteriorate, but Len felt perfectly fine. Clearly indicating that this spell was a different one from the ones Luka usually worked.

_How many different ways can someone work a love spell...okay, fine. I was stupid to assume that Luka has only one kind of spell._

No wonder he hadn't tasted roses and milk. Different spells would obviously have different flavours. Ugh. The nectar, there had definitely been something wrong with the nectar! He should have spat the whole lot out!

What would be the effect of this spell Luka had weaved? So far, he lusted after Miku, but as he was currently proving, he retained enough of his sanity to keep himself in check, so -

Someone with pink hair and narrowed blue eyes suddenly stepped into the cave, and Len whirled around, his eyes widening. At first, he thought that it was Luka, but then upon closer examination he realised it was Luki.

Damn it, why did they have to resemble so much? ''Luki, you bastard! Why did you spike my drink?'' he yelled at him. Luki huffed and blew his pink hair out of his aqua-coloured eyes, folding his arms. Wait, what the hell was Luki doing in here, anyway?

''Luki?'' Miku sounded surprised, and Len's eyes snapped at once to her. Her lips were parted, clearly startled, and he craved her touch, her taste, more than he craved making Luki suffer for spiking his drink...

Luki took a step towards the earth goddess, then shook his head, blinking, almost as though that step had been involuntary. It made Len think - what had they done with the nectar, that time? It was important, and -

There was a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as he suddenly recalled. He and Luki had _swapped bottles _for a while, which meant that Luki had also drank some of the tainted nectar...well, wasn't this just fantastic?

''You spiked my drink, you jerk,'' Len seethed at the mischievous God of Thieves. Luki rolled his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair, his eyes not leaving Miku the whole while. Miku followed their conversation intently, looking avidly interested. If only she had the same interest when it came to Len.

''I was growing bored, and when Luka suggested it...well, I thought it would be fun. Not that I didn't get my just rewards,'' Luki added bitterly. ''Hell, I regret this too.''

''What's the effect of the drug she used, this time?'' Len asked sharply. Miku's eyes snapped to him as they narrowed, slowly piecing the story together.

Luki rolled his eyes. ''Not going to tell you, Len. Figure it out yourself, since you claim to be such a genius,'' he said sarcastically.

''What did Luka do to you, Len?'' she rose from the bed, her teal hair sweeping around her waist. At once, Luki and Len's attentions were fixed on her, and they were mesmerised, unable to tear their eyes away from her.

''Luka drugged me,'' Len muttered. ''That's why I thought that you cast an enchantment over me...because I want you. I want you so bad,'' he breathed, taking a step closer to her. Her eyes widened, and she backed away.

Luki suddenly appeared, directly behind him. ''Don't touch her, Kagamine,'' he hissed at Len. ''Or I will make you suffer for it. She's mine.''

An unfamiliar surge of possessiveness filled Len, and his head whipped around so that he could glare at Luki. ''She's not yours or mine...for the time being,'' he smiled coldly. ''And if you think I'll let you anywhere near her, Luki, you can continue dreaming.''

''A spell of possessiveness,'' Miku whispered, her fingers flying to her full, sensuous lips. Len licked his own, wanting a taste. ''Luka hasn't used those in a long time,'' her voice trailed off. Her eyes landed on Luki. ''How did you get affected by your own sister's magic?''

Luki's eyelids lowered seductively. ''I accidentally drank some of the spiked wine meant for Len,'' he murmured. ''There's no cure for my sister's spells...not that I want a cure,'' his lips tilted up. ''Because I desire you.''

The sound of those words, directed at his Miku, just pissed Len off. ''Luki Megurine, I'm going to kill you and make you cry.''

''I can't cry if I'm dead,'' Luki pointed out coolly. ''You'd kill me over a woman, Len? You'd kill me, your best friend? When we're practically brothers? We're under my sister's spell...''

''I don't care, and stop pretending that you do. I can see how much you want to tear me apart, in your eyes,'' Len smirked. ''Are we going to play fair, Luki? Or not?''

''I'm still here, you know,'' Miku's irritated voice cut through their battle of wills. ''And I'm not interested in either of you. So I'd appreciate it if you two could leave me alone, and start looking for a cure to Luka's magic.''

As she spoke, she flicked her fingers, and suddenly Len and Luki found themselves on the surface, sprawled on the sands. Len sat up, still pissed at Luki. ''This is your fault.'' Miku had clearly used her control over the earth to kick him and Luki out of her home.

''Shut up,'' Luki snarled. ''There's no cure for my sister's drugs. And I'm not letting you have Miku. She's mine. She's _supposed _to be.''

''Why don't you just lock yourself in your room in the Hall of the Gods and let the older gods handle everything?'' Len shot Luki a smirk as he disappeared, going back to his home in the sky before Luki could retort.

He wasn't about to let Luki Megurine have Miku Hatsune. Yes, so maybe he was under the influence of Luka's spell - he was rational enough to know that Luki wasn't acting like himself. Nor was Len. But he didn't mind.

Because throughout all these centuries, even though he had tried to hide it, he had wanted Miku Hatsune to be his.


	5. Chapter 5

Miku was wondering what had just happened. Frowning, she strolled through her domain, trailing her fingers along the rough walls of the caverns. It reassured her, the feeling of the worn stone walls, and she exhaled.

Len Kagamine and Luki Megurine. Both under the influence of Luka, the Love Goddess' lust spells. She shook her head wryly - Luka must have been really bored, to use those particular spells. It had been a long time since she last cast a spell of possessiveness over anyone.

Miku could still remember the last time Luka enchanted a god that way. She had slipped some of her love magic into the God of Death, Dell Honne's food. Luka had bespelled him to desire the first girl he saw, which had happened to be the spirit of a deceased mortal. Death had then refused to collect her soul and send it to Hades, and that had sparked a furious clash between Death and his Master, the God of the Underworld, Gakupo Kamui.

It was only when the spell wore off and Dell regained his senses that the girl's spirit was finally collected and sent to the Underworld. Luka had expressed regret over the whole incident and promised not to do such a thing ever again. Clearly, Luka could not be trusted to keep her word. Miku sighed.

Now, her own brother was affected. If there was one person the frivolous, temperamental Goddess of Love cared for, it was the capricious God of Thieves and Mischief, her brother Luki Megurine. If that didn't make Luka feel truly sorry for tampering with people's psyches, then Miku didn't know what would.

Miku made her way out of the series of underground caverns that was her home, stepping out onto the sandy island. She shaded her eyes from the sunlight, wondering why the God of the Sun, Rinto, was so energetic today. Something must have happened up in the Hall of the Gods - probably involving soccer. Rinto loved soccer. Not that she would ever understand that. Maybe Chelsea won or something.

If only his twin Lenka, Goddess of Hunting and the Moon, could calm him down a little. If Rinto was making the sun shine so brightly and fiercely, Miku feared that some of the greenery under her realm would wither and die. She sighed and tilted her head back, to stare at the sky. Really, what was happening up there?

''Miku?'' she looked back down at the sound of her name. Kaito was coming out of the sea, looking perfectly dry. ''It's a surprise, to see you come out of your home,'' he cast a glance at the cave entrance. ''What happened with Len? And Luki? I saw Luki going in too.''

''Luka poisoned both of them with a curse of possession, and I'm the unfortunate target,'' Miku exhaled, the puff of air making her fringe flutter. Kaito blinked at her, then all of a sudden he began to laugh, clutching at his stomach as though he was suffering from severe pain.

Miku gritted her teeth. ''It's not funny, Kaito,'' she shot at him. ''How would you like it if two hormonal goddesses suddenly barged into your home and started fighting over you like a pair of wild, ill-mannered beasts?''

Kaito cocked an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face. ''Me? I'd love it, Miku. The more the merrier,'' he winked lasciviously, and Miku rolled her eyes at his pervertedness. Turning away, she tipped her head back to stare at the sky once more.

''Have you been up there lately?'' she asked the God of Water. He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful, and after some consideration he finally shook his head.

''I've been spending most of my time in my palace, lately,'' he shrugged. ''It's more peaceful down there, than in the Halls...Meiko's been so grumpy recently, I guess that's why there have been so many volcanoes erupting. And everyone up there is suffering because of her volatile temper,'' he shuddered.

''Aren't you her life-mate?'' Miku said bluntly. The water god and fire goddess had pretty much been together for...well, forever. Which was odd, because of their clashing elements. Meiko kept accidentally setting fire to Kaito's hair, and Kaito kept causing rain to pour all over Meiko, drenching her. Which normally made her extremely angry.

''I guess, but she's mad at me again. I accidentally caused her to fall into my swimming pool, in our room. You know, the one filled with seawater? And you know what Meiko's like, with seawater...I don't understand why she hates salt-water so much.''

''Because she's the Goddess of Fire, maybe?'' Miku sighed at Kaito, shaking her head. ''You're really such an idiot sometimes, Kaito. You make me wonder why we're even best friends.''

Kaito grinned. ''Because you're kind and nice enough to calm Meiko down when she's mad at me,'' he blinked innocently at her, and she huffed at him, smiling nevertheless.

''So why are you finally out of your home, reclusive, shy Goddess of Earth?'' Kaito asked her, and she clasped her hands behind her back, whirling around to face him. A light smile hovered around the edges of her lips.

''Even the most reclusive person in the world has to get out sometimes,'' she pointed out. ''I can't just hole myself up in the caverns forever. I want to take a look at my realm. Or rather, what's left of it,'' she frowned. The wild flora and fauna had been suffering, ever since Man went through industrialisation, and it hurt her every time more of the wild got destroyed.

Kaito's eyes darkened as he understood how she felt. All of the elemental gods understood how each other felt - the four realms were being affected by pollution and such, and each time each of their realms got more and more polluted it hurt their respective gods.

Perhaps the one least affected by human activities was Meiko, who oversaw the fire realms like volcanoes and such, but the others all knew and understood her pain.

Forests were being cut down, oceans were being polluted and the air itself was becoming...grey, grey from smoke and smog. Miku winced. As their realms became dirtier, the elemental gods grew weaker - not that the other gods knew of that.

''Do you want me to come with you?'' Kaito asked. Miku shook her head, casting a glance at the clear blue ocean. The Bermuda Triangle was one of the few pockets of land and ocean left that had been left relatively untouched by human activity, but she wondered how long more it would be before the blue ocean turned a polluted dark grey.

''I'll just take a look at the Amazon basin,'' she smiled. ''It's been some time since I last checked that rainforest, and I know that it's shrinking. Day by day, large stretches being destroyed...'' she winced. ''But the Amazon river is doing rather fine, isn't it?''

''I suppose, in comparison to the forest around it,'' Kaito rubbed tiredly at his eyes. ''How much longer do you think it'll take for the other gods to realise that the strong, mighty elemental gods are weakening?'' the last words were spoken as a whisper.

''I don't know,'' Miku answered honestly, her voice soft. ''But it wouldn't do us well for other gods to realise that. This is a secret to be kept between the five of us...if others knew we were weakened, then they wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of us and use our powers.''

''That's true,'' he mumbled. ''See you then, Miku...'' he disappeared, and Miku closed her eyes. She had to concentrate on her desired location, or she would end up on the other side of the world. And that would be an unnecessary drain of her already limited powers.

_I hope the Amazon forest is fine - it's one of the last few stretches of true wilderness, left on this planet...if it's really dying, what would happen to me, then?_

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Len coughed, shaking his head in frustration. Stupid factory pollution. Why couldn't they stop spewing waste gases into the environment? What was_wrong _with all these mortals? He missed the days before industrialisation, back when humans had worshipped gods. And hadn't thrown their rubbish all over the place.

Of course, he grudgingly admitted that this pollution had brought along technological advancements and whatnot. He didn't care. If it wasn't for the fact that Rin enjoyed television and gods knew what else, he would have condemned all this 'advancement' ages ago.

He stalked into the main room of his palace, where he could hear the sounds of someone crying. Blinking, he entered the room, looking for the source of the sound. The crying was getting on his already frayed nerves.

Ever since he had been kicked out of Miku's home, he had been frustrated. He half-expected Luki to show up at any moment and start threatening his life - so far, the pink-haired God of Thieves hadn't appeared, but Len knew he would run into him again. Soon. And he was determined not to lose to Luki over Miku, not even if his powers were slowly draining.

And now, this crying, coupled with the sudden weakness he felt because of further damage to his elemental realm, was pissing him off. And why was it that Rin seemed so completely unaffected by the weakening of the elemental gods, anyway? This was so unfair.

He stared around the room, finally meeting his sister's startled gaze. She had her arms wrapped around Rui Kagene, who was sniffling at the television screen.

''Stupid Rose! How could you let go of Jack like that? You should've just made space for him...there was so much space...'' Rui hiccuped, blowing into a tissue.

''We're watching the Titanic,'' Rin explained to a dumbfounded Len. ''Rui's getting a little over-emotional here. Sorry about that.''

''Die, Rose! Let Jack live instead!'' Rui shrieked at the screen. Len cast his gaze heavenwards, sighing. He wasn't sure if he had the patience to put up with much more of this.

''This is stupid,'' Len muttered. Instantly, a bolt of energy struck him, blasting him into the wall. He hit it hard, then slid down, groaning. Rui was glaring at him, hands on her hips.

''It's not stupid, Kagamine, and I demand that you take your words back!'' she yelled. Len glared right back at her, feeling giddy.

''Remind me why you're the Goddess of Wisdom?'' he said sarcastically. The world was spinning around him, and he laughed a little drunkenly. Stupid blast. Stupid weakening powers. Stupid, stupid him. How hard had he hit his head? Must have been pretty hard.

Rin was by his side in an instant, patting worriedly at his face. ''Len? Are you going to faint? You'd better not faint! Come on, be a man!'' she shook his shoulder.

Len fainted.


	6. Chapter 6

Len blinked, wondering what had just happened. Why did his head hurt so much? The world was all blurry around him, and he squinted, trying to focus his eyes on something. Anything. A flash of blonde, and then Rin's voice was piercing his head, too loud for him.

''You're such a wimp, Len. I can't believe you fainted just because Rui threw you into the wall,'' she sighed loudly. ''You're a total embarrassment to Air, my brother.''

''How is it that _you,_'' Len scowled, narrowing his eyes, ''seem so totally unaffected by our weakening? Look at the other four elemental gods. Our powers are all draining. Yours are weakening too, but why don't you seem to be suffering the physical consequences?''

''Because I don't go around offending temperamental people and getting myself thrown into walls,'' Rin answered matter-of-factly. ''The pollution in the skies _are _affecting me, Len. It just doesn't manifest as obviously as yours, because I'm not as danger-prone.''

''Me? Danger-prone?'' He shook his head, feeling a little woozy. Slowly, he propped himself up on his elbows. ''Name me one thing I've done this past week that was _danger-prone._''

''You challenged the War God, Rei Kagene, to a fight over the last piece of ambrosia at Akaito's party.'' Akaito Shion, the God of Wine and Partying. A party animal, quite literally.

''That wasn't danger-prone,'' Len countered. ''I won, didn't I? So I was perfectly fine.''

''Because you cheated,'' Rin said in a flat tone, and Len twitched. ''I saw, Len. When no one was looking you got the God of the North Wind to blow him into the wall. That's cheating.''

Len fidgeted. ''Fine. I cheated. Anyway, that's over - name me something else, then,'' he smiled winningly at his sister. She thought.

''You tried to kidnap Dell from Gakupo so you could see what would happen to the mortal world if Death wasn't active for a while.''

Strange, he couldn't seem to remember - oh. ''That was a dare,'' he muttered. ''From Luki. And anyway, I already knew what was going to happen. Luka did something similar to Dell before, remember?''

Rin sighed. ''And worst of all, you tried to stuff Piko into a fairy costume and throw him down onto the mortal world into a group of perverted old men. Piko is still scarred, you know?''

Piko Utatane was the God of Love, Luka's son - the god Eros. Otherwise known as Cupid, the annoying little fat cherub who went around shooting arrows at people during Valentine's Day. Piko hated being called Cupid though. He wasn't actually a fat cherub, though humans all seemed to portray Cupid that way.

''Piko was annoying me,'' Len complained. ''He was trying to shoot me and make me fall in love with Luki. I can't stand him. And how was that danger-prone, anyway? He can't do anything to me - he's just a fat cherub.''

''I am not a fat cherub!'' Piko's voice sounded behind him, and Len tilted his head back to stare at the silver-haired god. Piko's dual-coloured eyes stared back at Len as Len smirked. One green, one blue - strange.

''But most people seem to think you're that,'' Len chirped happily. Piko glared at him, and Len withdrew a little as he noticed Piko's hands tightening around the handle of his bow. Wait...his bow...he could do something!

''Hey, Piko,'' Len began in the most honeyed tone he could muster. ''I've a little problem. Do you have any idea what your mother dear did to me and your uncle?''

''No, but I hope it was painful,'' Piko muttered. Rin shot the silver-haired god an amused look, giggling softly to herself. Len rolled his eyes.

''Not physically. She caused the both of us to fall out over Miku Hatsune, the Earth Goddess,'' he hated the way his tongue rolled around the name, saying it as though it was a reverent prayer. Piko's eyebrows lifted.

''A love spell?'' Piko said, sounding intrigued. Len shrugged, deciding to sit up. His throbbing headache had finally faded enough for him to think properly.

''Spell of possessiveness,'' he said shortly. ''Your idiot uncle spiked my drink with it, then accidentally drank some himself. I guess you can figure out the rest,'' Len winced. Piko's eyes widened, then he began to laugh, semi-hysterically. Len scowled.

''Ha...you! In love with Miku!'' Piko was laughing so hard, tears were leaking out of his eyes. ''She's never going to accept that, is she?'' he gasped out, wiping said tears away from his eyes. ''She can't stand Air!''

''Shut up,'' Len's scowl deepened. ''Why don't you say something pessimistic to Luki and see how he reacts? You're just lucky that I'm so damn nice,'' Len growled, not sounding nice at all.

Piko shook his head, exchanging a glance with Rin. ''Okay, okay. I'm listening to you. Anyway, I can't help you with that. My mother's magic is greater than mine. I play around with lust and desire - my mother tampers with the very essence of true love. You know, Psyche helps her a lot,'' Piko sighed. ''It's so sad.''

Psyche, Piko's wife. Also known as Gumi. She could sense soul mate bonds, and could tamper with them as she wished. Len swallowed. ''What do you mean, Psyche is helping her?''

''Well, ever since I married Psyche...'' Piko grinned, stroking the handle of his bow, ''Psyche has been infusing my mother's magic with some of her own. So yes, they're stronger than ever now!'' he chirped happily. ''You're all bonded together, the three of you, in ways deeper than lust but lesser than love! So I can't help you. So sorry,'' he ended, not sounding sorry at all. Len bared his teeth at him.

''Coming from someone who only married his wife because he accidentally shot himself with his own arrow,'' he muttered, causing Rin to splutter. Piko glared at him.

''If you don't shut up, Len, I will go to Miku and shoot a lead arrow at her. And she'll hate you while you love her. Since the magic was ingested by you and not her, she can still be affected by my arrows,'' he smiled sweetly.

''...Piko, you're a jerk, you know that?'' Piko shrugged at the look on Len's face, grinning once more. ''How does Luka stand you? How does anyone stand you at all?''

''Piko, you really can't help?'' Rin spoke up. ''Because I'm stuck with this swooning, love-struck fool, and it's getting on my nerves.''

''Sorry, Rin,'' this time, Piko actually sounded apologetic. ''I really can't help...not even my mother can undo her own magic, let alone I,'' he sighed. ''You should lock Len up somewhere until it fades. In...a century or so.''

''Century?'' Len spluttered. Piko looked at him, an evil light in his dual-coloured eyes.

''Why, didn't I mention? Her spells are getting stronger than ever!'' with an evil grin, Piko disappeared from Len's room.

Rin stared at her dumb-struck brother. ''Well, you're in trouble now, aren't you?'' she commented, half wearily, half gleefully.

''Shut up, Rin.''


	7. Chapter 7

When it came to helpers, personal little spirits that the individual gods used to spy, as well as engage in other menial chores, every single god had his or her own kind. Len Kagamine and his sister, Rin Kagamine, for example, both sent their air sprites, beings made of air and wind, out to do their bidding.

Rei Kagene, the God of War, had fleshless, ethereal horses of war as his loyal servants. Horses with flanks of darkest night and blood red, horses which constantly shimmered to reveal the bare white bones underneath. They were commonly thought of as foreboding omens, creatures of death and chaos.

Kaito Shion, the God of Water, had the nymphs and naiads under his command. Nymphs were the maidens of the rivers, while naiads were the women of the vast seas. They were beautiful creatures, beings which tempted and beckoned to men, wanting to drown them in the depths of the clear blue waters. Kaito found it rather difficult to restrain the blood-thirsty nymphs and naiads which listened only to him - they cared not for the other gods.

Miku Hatsune, goddess of the earth, held sway over the dryads and satyrs, creatures of the grasslands and forests. Dryads were ladies of the trees, satyrs the half-human, half-goat guardians of the wild lands. They listened to and obeyed only the call of Mother Nature.

Luka Megurine and her son, Piko Utatane, both had control over the little love sprites - these love sprites were the fat cherubs that Piko was so often mistaken for due to the fact that they helped Piko spread love - or more accurately, lust - around the mortals, especially when it was Valentine's Day.

The frenzied 'love' in the air during Valentine's Day often caused the little sprites to manifest into their physical, visible forms, and this led to mortals associating these fat cherubs with Piko - Eros, Cupid, the God of Love and Lust.

Naturally, there were exceptions to this servant rule. Dell Honne, the God of Death itself, otherwise known as Thanatos, did not have any underling of his own to serve him. Mainly because Dell himself was an underling, the servant of the God of the Underworld, a certain purple-haired Gakupo Kamui.

Dell's job was to retrieve the souls of the dead and send them to the Underworld for proper judging. He was also what caused the living to pass on, to enter the mysterious realm of Death. Suffice to say, he was an important god - if he ever went on strike, the mortal realm would have a major overpopulation problem.

But exceptions to this rule were rare as most gods were too lazy to do anything for themselves. Luki Megurine was not one of these exceptions - he had servants too, but they were of a rather...different sort. Most gods had servants which were generally perceived by mortals to be kind and helpful - sprites, fairies, naiads, dryads and the like.

Luki, however, did not have any fondness for such fairy-tale like creatures. They weren't good enough for him. He preferred something more dark, more alluring - more mysterious. He preferred something which would strike fear into the hearts of any sane beings.

The God of Mischief and Thieves was a strange god, you see. He was a god who was worshipped by many, throughout the centuries, throughout aeons. He was worshipped under numerous different names, under many different characterisations, but underneath all the different identities he was the god, Luki.

Under the ancient Greeks, he was known as Hermes. Under the Romans, he was known as Mercury. In both cases, he was the messenger god, as well as the god of travellers and thieves. That covered the thievery side of his domain - but there was another side to him, the mischievous side people rarely focused upon.

As the God of Mischief, perhaps his most famous persona was that of the Nordic trickster god, known as Loki. Luki was most fond of that particular identity, since it was the closest to his genuine name. Loki, Luki - there was only a single letter difference, after all.

Due to him being Loki, the Nordic trickster god, he had a certain special type of servant, a type which revelled in causing havoc as much as he himself did - the banshees. Not the banshees of Irish legend, nor the banshees of old English folklore. A rather different kind of banshee.

According to Irish legend, banshees were fairy women which wailed and cried, and on some occasions sang mournfully, to herald the death of a family member. There were some families which were more likely to have banshees attached to them than others. The more banshees were sighted wailing, the more important or holy the person who was about to pass on was.

According to old English folk tales, as well as stories and myths from other cultures, banshees were wizened, horrendous women who had died during childbirth, and they screamed a piercing shriek which predicted every single one of the ominous happenings which would befall the travellers unfortunate enough to cross them in their paths.

These claims were not necessarily true, but struck foolish with fear, these terrified travellers usually became more susceptible to frights and nightmares, in the midnight hours between waking and dreams. These shocks might eventually lead to their deaths - just as the banshees so desired.

Luki's pet banshees, however, were neither. His banshees were pale, silent girls who looked to be no older than their teens. All of them were identical to each other, with their ebony hair and fair, snow-white skin. Their eyes were empty and their faces, expressionless - they were Luki's little puppets, and he controlled them effectively, skilfully.

He was the puppeteer and they were the puppets on his strings, waiting for him to play with them. Waiting for him to manipulate them into doing his bidding. Amongst all the helpers of the gods, his banshees, these savage, ghostly pale girls were the most feared, even more so than Rei Kagene's harbingers of death.

These silent banshees could soar through the air at astounding speeds, their tattered, ragged dresses floating eerily out behind them, even though they had no wings with which to fly. Their mindlessness and devotion to their master god made them robots, robots which would kill and devour anything so long as Luki commanded them to do so.

Whenever threatened, the banshees possessed a powerful weapon - their shriek. The piercing wail of his banshees killed anyone and anything, both hearing and deaf, so long as they had ears of some sort and were living beings, not magically automated creatures such as rock golems or metal robots.

Luki manipulated his little puppets using his thoughts, and his thoughts alone. That took considerable skill as he couldn't stop directing them for a single moment, not even if he was doing something important.

The pink-haired God of Thieves and Mischief now smirked, his full lips tilting upwards as he lounged in his bed, in his rooms in the Halls of the Gods. ''Come to me,'' he murmured, reaching up and crooking a finger. Instantly, silent as a whisper, silent as the rustling of dead autumn leaves on the roadside, his pet banshees flew in through the open window, settling silently around their master on his bed.

Luki sat up, regarding each of his fifteen banshees with a critical eye. All of them seemed fine and healthy, and that was the most pressing issue. Now that he had ascertained that his banshees were all in perfect condition, he could send them out to do his bidding.

Letting his mind float back to that familiar state of concentration, he willed his oldest banshee towards him, and the black-haired girl drifted to him, her face an expressionless mask. He reached out, cupping the banshee's cheek, and she regarded him with those soulless dark eyes. His banshees were instruments, and they had no thoughts or desires of their own.

''Track Miku Hatsune for me,'' he said softly, and she nodded woodenly, waiting for him to command her. He narrowed his eyes, willing the banshee to find the teal-haired goddess, and she rose, slipping agilely out of the window. With a small corner of his mind, he controlled the banshee's flight, at the same time controlling the direction she would take to seek out the girl he so desired.

The eyes of his fifteen banshees were his eyes. Their ears were his ears. What his fifteen banshees sensed, what they felt, was all relayed back to him. They were the perfect spies, ghostly and unseen, and he used them to see things that were too far for him to venture to. Especially when he was feeling lazy. Luki knew what they did - he controlled their every action, and he did so with weary familiarity.

Controlling his underlings was second nature to him now, after all these aeons of practice. He was capable of directing the fifteen banshees to carry out different jobs for him, all at the same time, while carrying out a logical conversation with another or doing something else that required his concentration.

Luki was extremely good at multi-tasking. It was a skill he had needed to hone, in order to direct and order his banshees to do what he wanted. Without his constant mental urging, they would just stop in their tracks, not doing anything other than staring listlessly into blank space. Which wouldn't help in fulfilling his objectives, of course...whatever his objectives were. This was the only disadvantage that came with having banshees as his servants.

He smiled, glancing at the remaining fourteen quiet, sallow-skinned girls as they floated around him, waiting for his command. Musing, he tilted his head up, staring curiously at the ceiling. He needed distractions.

What mischief should he partake in today?


	8. Chapter 8

Miku drifted through the dense, thick forest, her fingers trailing down smooth bark. It was humid, extremely humid, in the Amazon forest, and perspiration was starting to trickle down the nape of her neck. And her forehead.

The forest was shrinking at a dangerously rapid rate, and Miku sighed bitterly, looking down at the layers of dead and decaying leaves on the forest ground. The forest was teeming with life - why did humans have to destroy it at such a rate? She understood if trees were felled for further economic development...

But cutting down so many hectares of forest at one go was just selfish and greedy. Humans were tightening their grip on this planet, slowly choking the life out of the earth, and before long she and the other elemental gods would no doubt noticeably weaken.

What would happen to them, then? Would they fade away? Would they die? Gods were immortal, but they could die...what happened to gods after death? Did they have an afterlife, like humans and other animals did, or did they simply enter...nothingness? Oblivion?

Miku didn't know. She wasn't scared of dying itself, nor was she frightened of weakening and losing her powers. What she was afraid of was the unknown...she feared not knowing, not having any idea what would happen to her, should she pass on. Everyone knew that gods could die, though they were extremely difficult to kill. To kill a god required great power and complete destruction, so the god would not be able to regenerate and come back.

No god had died yet, not that she knew of. Even the oldest gods, the king of the gods and the God of the Underworld, had no idea what happened to the gods, should they move on to the next realm. Could gods come back as ghosts, like mortal spirits did?

Rinto Kagamine, the King of the Gods and the God of the Sun, didn't know what happened to gods after death. Miku had asked him before, and he had shrugged, curiosity flickering through his cerulean coloured eyes. He had suggested asking Gakupo, instead.

But Gakupo Kamui and his servant, Dell Honne, both didn't know either, despite being the God of the Underworld and of Death, respectively. They had asked why she was suddenly so interested in the dark topic of dying.

She had shrugged it off as simple curiosity. She couldn't possibly tell any other gods, besides the elemental gods, that she was weakening, losing her powers due to the loss of the earth. The other gods might take advantage of her weakened state to roam freely in her realm, causing mischief and such. She couldn't possibly allow that to happen, not to Earth.

''You seem really unsure about what to do next,'' a familiar voice murmured from behind her. Miku twisted around, her long teal hair flying out behind her as she stared at the speaker.

''What do you want this time, Len?'' she sighed, averting her gaze as his cerulean eyes bored into her. He shrugged and smiled, a little sheepish looking. He looked...well, he didn't look as arrogant as she was used to.

''I was wondering how you were doing,'' he cast a helpless look around the forest. ''You know, with the whole power drain thing we have going on...we really need to work something out,'' his eyes darkened. ''Before we all lose our powers and become mortal. Or even die.''

''I know that,'' Miku sighed again. ''But what can we do about it? We can't possibly destroy the earth. Even though that will get rid of the humans, our powers are linked to the earth...if we destroy it, we will lose our powers anyway.'' She blinked. ''And the other gods will wonder why we destroyed earth,'' she added as an afterthought, her fingers reaching out once more for the comforting touch of bark.

Len leant against one of the trees, watching her. ''Which is why I came to you,'' a light scowl flickered over his face. ''I don't understand why amongst the five of us, I'm weakening the fastest. I need a solution, as soon as possible. And you...well, unlike Kaito, Meiko and my sister, you're the most logical. Rin told me to just blow Earth up,'' he rolled his eyes.

Miku shot him a look. ''I'm flattered that you think I'm the best to discuss this with,'' she said in a dead-pan manner. ''But I cannot help, Len. I'm turning weaker, as well - I'm not that much better off than you yourself are.''

''I'm desperate,'' he offered, his lips tilting up into a crooked smile. Miku turned away from him, drifting deeper into the forest. She knew it was true that Len was weakening the fastest amongst the five - but coming to her alone wouldn't solve matters. They needed to discuss this together, all five of them - not that it would ever happen. They all quarrelled too much.

Lean arms looped around her waist, tugging her back, and she gasped as she felt herself being pulled against a toned, slim body. Len's voice whispered into her ear, his arms tightening around her waist - ''Don't walk away from me. You don't know how that makes me feel.''

''Maybe you should go look for an antidote to Luka's magic. She should have something which can help, even if it doesn't cure you at once,'' Miku tried to struggle out of his embrace, but he held fast, not letting her free.

''What if I told you that I didn't want an antidote to Luka's magic?'' he murmured in her ear, causing her to still as the words registered in her mind. ''You...you don't know how much I yearned for you, do you?''

''It's the magic speaking,'' she said faintly, suddenly feeling weaker than usual. He yearned for her? But that couldn't be possible - Air and Earth were opposing elements, and they hated each other. They repelled - they would never be able to attract, no matter what they wished.

He had wanted her in the past...because she was the one girl he was never able to obtain. Wasn't that so? And until now, she was still the only woman, goddess or otherwise, who ever rejected him. And she knew from personal experience that Len didn't take rejection well.

''It's not,'' he breathed, that cool breath a mix of sweet nectar and heady cinnamon. ''You really think...that I wanted you in the past simply because you spurned me? I'm not such a fool,'' she knew he was smirking. ''I wouldn't chase after a girl who didn't interest me, whether or not she rejected me or otherwise.''

Miku blasted him away with her powers, drawing strength from the earth beneath her feet. Taking a deep breath, she folded her arms, glaring at the God of Air who had crashed right into the trunk of a giant tree. ''I don't have the time to play any of your little games.''

Len groaned, his eyelids fluttering as he slid down the trunk of the tree. ''It isn't a game to me,'' he protested, voice slurred. ''And that hurt...second time today that I've been thrown into something...doesn't feel very good...'' his voice faded into a mumble.

''It is a game,'' she ignored the second part of his words, the part about him getting thrown into things. This was Len - he offended so many gods on a regular basis, she wasn't surprised about him getting thrown around into anything. ''To you, to me, to Luki, and to Luka, who started all this. If it weren't for her love spell, you wouldn't have sought me out. Didn't you say that you had given up on me?''

He had never told her that, not personally, but she had heard rumours from the other gods who had visited her. Apparently, Len had finally given up on trying to obtain her affections after she had rejected him for approximately the...five thousand, three hundred and fifty-second time. Somewhere along those numbers.

Len stared at her, his blue eyes suddenly wide open. Slowly, he shook his head, rising from the forest ground to stumble shakily over to her.

She didn't move, staring at him, and when he stood before her he regarded her with those cerulean eyes. His eyes were like two blue pools, pools so deep you could just drown in them. Miku could tell why women liked him.

His fingers tipped her face up, and she blinked up at him, a little bit nervous - but a little excited, as well. She had no idea why she felt that way, but she did. His eyes searched hers, almost wonderingly, and she got the feeling that he was on the verge of saying something very important. Important to him, anyway.

''I've always liked you,'' he said haltingly, again nothing like the arrogant Len Kagamine she knew. ''Even before Luka's magic, I liked you. Even then, though I had given up - all her magic did was make me determined to win your affections again. With Luki as a competitor.''

''I can't like you,'' she told him truthfully. ''Earth cannot love Air. Earth can't ever meet the Air. Earth cannot reside in the air, and Air would suffocate in the earth itself. We're just far too different to ever be together.''

''I don't care,'' his blue eyes turned almost fierce. Before she could withdraw, he lowered his face to hers, his lips meeting her own.


	9. Chapter 9

Len was not ashamed to say that he had completely no idea what he was doing.

As usual, he had spoken before he could properly think about what he was saying. To tell the truth, he was rather surprised that Miku had any idea how to carry on the conversation he had dumbly started with her.

He knew that everything Miku had said to him earlier made sense, especially about how she couldn't help him with his weakening powers - but to be honest the only thing he had been thinking of throughout their whole conversation was how _much _he wanted her.

It was true that his powers had been weakening, and that he needed a solution to that. Before he...died. Or anything of the sort. And obviously, he couldn't be allowed to die. Too many women would miss him.

But that hadn't been the reason he had sought Miku out - as though he would waste time talking to her about that. He would rather spend time trying to convince Miku how _right _they were for each other. He knew that they were the perfect couple - they would look great together. And their kids would be gorgeous.

The reason that Len had appeared before her was because...he had just wanted to see her for a little while. He had missed her. A lot. Hopefully she wouldn't figure out his true reason for looking for her - she wouldn't be happy about that. She hated having to see him unless it was absolutely necessary.

Anyway, what had she been saying about Air and Earth being opposing elements? He hadn't been listening to her - he had been too busy getting distracted by her very pretty green eyes. There were flecks of darker green in them, and they looked so...green. Her eyes were so green. He liked her green eyes. All of a sudden, his favourite colour changed from yellow to green. Green was such a nice, calming colour...

But he knew that she had probably been telling him that they couldn't be together, for some stupid reason, as per usual. He had pretty much figured that out for himself - she always provided some reason as to why they could never be together as a couple, whenever they talked about their relationship.

So he had just given her his usual answer, the one he always offered to her each time she told him something along those lines - that he didn't care that they couldn't be together just because they were too dissimilar.

And after that, he had completely ignored all of her predictable protests and kissed her. He was still kissing her now, and she hadn't reacted - she was like a stiff block of wood, in his arms. And he wondered if that was a good or bad sign. It was good that she wasn't pushing him away as usual...but then again, her stillness indicated that something was very, very wrong. Which would not spell well for him.

Yes, he had stolen a few brief kisses from her before. But as mentioned, they were brief, and they usually occurred without her permission...hence the stolen part. The kisses were always too short for him to know her taste, so this time he lingered, since she didn't make any move to shove him away from her. For once.

The taste of sweet syrup and honey - it reminded him of heavenly nectar. Almost, but not quite. There was an..._earthy _sweetness in it that was absent from heavenly nectar. A strange sweetness which made him feel a little drowsy, a little safer than he usually did. And it was rather odd for him, because he had never tasted something quite like this before. The taste of her lips was...unique.

He didn't know that he was backing her into a tree, but when her lips parted in a faint gasp, he glanced up at the wooden bark behind her. When had he moved? He hadn't noticed. Her hands reached up to his elbows, her slender fingers wrapping weakly around the joints - he didn't know whether she did so in order to push him away, or to pull him closer. Quickly, he took advantage of her parted lips to explore her sweet mouth with his tongue.

Was she kissing him back? He couldn't really tell - and if she was, he couldn't really feel it. He knew she was responding to his kiss, if the fingers wrapped around his arms indicated anything. But she still showed no signs of rejection or acceptance, and that made him wonder what on earth she was thinking.

Then someone tore him away from Miku, away from her soft body. Furious, Len whirled around to look for the person who had dared to touch him while he had been kissing the woman he desired, and his narrowed eyes met light blue ones. Aqua blue eyes that were every bit as angry as Len's own were.

Luki flicked his fingers, and Len went crashing right into a tree. Again. It was the third time today that he had been thrown into something, and he could honestly say that he was not enjoying it very much. Feeling a little faint, he shook his head sharply, the world spinning around him. He winced at the pain he was feeling - his whole body ached. Badly.

''Luki!'' he heard Miku say, and despite the sweetness of her melodious voice, the tone she used was reprimanding. ''Don't go around throwing people into trees! The trees don't like it, you know. Next time, throw Len back into the sky. At least the winds would welcome him back.'' Had she really just said that?

Didn't she care at all that he had been thrown into a tree? No, apparently the only thing Miku cared about were her precious trees. Right. Like Len was so very unimportant to her. Len's lips curled away fro his teeth, forming a snarl as he staggered up from the ground, pressing his hand against the rough bark of the tree to steady himself. The world ceased spinning.

His eyes instantly sought out Luki, who was staring, mesmerised, at the beautiful earth goddess, who had her hands planted on her curvy hips. Now, Len probably should have taken this opportunity to hit back at Luki, but he couldn't help but stare at Miku too. His eyes drifted from her hips, to her slender waist, to the front of her dress, at her chest...oh damn.

Len felt something warm flow out of his nose, and frowning he patted at the skin there. He drew his fingers away to see blood, and he twisted around to glare at the tree. This was definitely the tree's fault. Or Luki's fault. He must have hit the tree too hard. Why else would his nose possibly be bleeding?

Cupping the lower half of his face, he attempted to staunch the bleeding. It didn't appear to be too serious, thank the gods. He didn't want to lose too much blood - he was feeling dizzy enough as it was. At the same time, as he tried to stop the flow of blood from his nose, he silently called to the winds, telling it to pick up Luki and throw him right into another tree. A tree which happened to have a beehive hanging from its branches. His lips tilted into a smirk.

The winds obeyed his command, and Luki was hurled right into the sturdy wooden bark. Into the beehive. The impact caused the hive to drop to the ground, breaking into pieces. There was an distinct, angry buzzing sound, and then the bees in the broken hive swarmed out, attacking the pink haired God of Thieves. Luki yelped in panic as he laid, winded, on the ground, trying to fend off the angry bees. It gave Len no little amount of satisfaction to see that.

Miku scowled at Len, then waved her hands at the bees. The bees became docile, obeying the goddess of earth, and they flew away from Luki, taking to the blue skies. Cautiously, she walked towards the dazed god, who gazed up at her, awe in his aqua blue eyes. ''Luki! Are you okay? Did the bees sting you badly?''

Len scowled too. Wait. So he, the God of Air, could crash into something for the third time in a day, and she wouldn't care. But the pink haired God of Thieves knocked into a beehive, and she was all concerned for him? Luki wasn't even badly injured, for the sake of the gods! Not like Len - Len thought that he was going to have permanent brain damage, from all the knocking around his poor head had suffered.

''Um...I'm fine,'' Luki stammered, his cheeks turning a little red. The pink hue clashed with his bubblegum coloured hair, and Len smirked at that, folding his arms across his chest. Luki's blue eyes darted towards the blonde, and he frowned at him, pushing himself up off the forest floor. There was murder in those eyes.

Len wondered if he should begin to worry. Luki hated being embarrassed, and now that he was under the influence of a love spell...yes, Len decided that he ought to worry a little. Luki was not exactly a weak god. Obviously, Luki wanted to kill Len, and vice-versa...but they weren't going to do that in front of Miku...it probably wouldn't give the teal haired goddess a very good impression of either of them.

Maybe Len should let Luki beat him up a little? So that Miku would pity him and start being more concerned about him too? Len thought about that for a while as Luki started towards him - but then logic overrode desire, and he decided that he wasn't that self-sacrificial. Not even for the sake of Miku's attention.

Huh. Luka's magic must have been much less powerful than he had originally thought. Weren't spells of possessiveness supposed to make him feel...possessive? Maybe Luka was getting old. He didn't feel particularly possessive of Miku, even though Luki was also here and vying for her attention -

Instead of walking to Len, as Len expected, Luki turned towards Miku. Tugging her close, he shot Len a triumphant grin, then leant down, letting his lips brush slowly against Miku's. Miku's eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't struggle - unlike how she usually did, whenever Len kissed her. Earlier had been an exception.

Len's eyes narrowed at the pair as he watched Luki kiss _his _Miku. That was it. Len was going to kill Luki now, screw the whole best friend thing. No one touched Miku, no one but him! Miku was his, not Luki's, and Luki was going to regret ever setting his filthy eyes upon her -

An unimportant part of his mind noticed that the spell had kicked in upon watching the two of them like that. Huh. So Luka wasn't getting old after all. That was a pity.


	10. Chapter 10

''Let me tell you one thing. This hurts,'' Len groaned dramatically, throwing his arm over his eyes, shielding his face from his sister. Rin sighed and rolled her eyes at him, long used to her brother's melodramatic antics.

''Look, Luki didn't even hit you that hard,'' Rin yanked Len's arm away from his face. Len hissed, jerking his sister off, then turned away from her and closed his eyes, pretending to have fallen asleep. Rin just punched him in the shoulder, in the exact same place Luki had hit him, and he gasped in pain at the action.

''You must really hate me, for some reason,'' Len complained, propping himself up on his elbows to finally face Rin. ''I'm going to tell Rinto that you're using your older twin advantage to press me under your thumb. It's unfair.'' At that, Rin rolled her eyes. Again. The lack of concern his sister showed for him greatly tore at Len's bleeding heart...not.

''That's all you ever do. Run to Rinto. Well, I can complain to Lenka, who Rinto happens to listen a lot to, and then they'll end up siding me anyway. Besides, you're not really that much in pain, since you can complain like this. Save the hurt act for someone who actually cares.''

Len glared at her. ''I got beaten up by Luki and all you can do is lecture me,'' he said, a hint of disbelief in his voice. Rin sighed, shaking her head, then reached out to pat his shoulder. Len winced as her fingers poked at the bruise which had blossomed on his skin - the bruise which wouldn't fade away because Luki had been the one to give it to him. Luki hit really hard.

Obviously, as the god had also added some magical power to that single punch, the bruise wasn't going to fade any time soon. Len smirked - at least he had managed to hold his own. The look the pink haired god had been wearing when Len had retaliated, hitting him right in the face - that look was priceless.

The only reason why he and Luki weren't still trying to kill each other was because Miku had used her powers to knock both of them unconscious before they could do too much damage to each other. She had then called for Rin and Luka, who had brought their own respective brothers home...and away from total embarrassment, as Rin liked to remind him.

''So what are you going to do now? Since you know that Luki will probably try to make some kind of move whenever you try to get close to Miku,'' Rin asked, face serious. Len blinked - she was taking his little love problem a whole lot more seriously that he had first thought.

Either his sister did care for him, or she was really that annoyed by his torturous lovestruck foolishness. Len had this strange suspicion that it was more of the latter than the former. ''I don't know. I don't even know how Luki had known that I went to look for Miku in the Amazon forest - but I bet he sent one of his little pet banshees out to watch her,'' Len frowned. At least Len wasn't a stalker.

Or more accurately, he didn't stalk Miku as much as Luki did. At least he didn't send his air sprites out to watch her. That was pretty smart of Luki, though. To make his banshees watch the teal haired earth goddess. Perhaps he ought to do the same thing. Then maybe the competition between them would be fair...Len resolved to do just that. Once his sister left him alone. She would never agree to his plan.

''You're thinking of doing the same thing as Luki and sending some of our air sprites out to watch Miku, aren't you?'' Rin's voice pierced through his reverie, and Len winced. Well, there went his plan. His carefully crafted master plan, broken and dashed. And it was all Rin's fault. Would it kill her to stop being so damn perceptive for a little while? This was annoying. His sister was annoying him. How...annoying.

''Well, I was. And I was going to send them after you left the room,'' Len waved his hand carelessly, then winced as he pulled on the bruise. ''But no, you had to be a genius and guess my amazing plan. Thanks. Are you happy now? Because I just know that you're going to put our air sprites under lock and key.''

Yes, Rin was going to ground Len. This was not fair. He was only three minutes younger than she was. So he still had no idea why she had grounding privileges. Rinto, their elder brother and the King of the Gods, had granted Rin the ability to veto Len's commands. So the air sprites were completely under her command, not his. Len could control the sprites, but Rin could stop them from doing what he wanted.

Which was basically unfair. Len suspected that Rin had talked to Lenka about granting her that privilege. And Lenka, Rinto's twin sister and Rin and Len's elder sister, had talked to Rinto about it. Rinto listened to Lenka because he was scared of Lenka. And Lenka was biased against Len and towards Rin. Which was not fair, as he liked to say. Len wondered why he and Rinto were so suppressed by Rin and Lenka.

''No, I won't,'' Rin said, surprising him. Startled, his head whipped around to face her. His blonde sister was smiling angelically at him, but there was a sly spark in her eyes which was really unnerving him. He did not like that spark. ''You can send them to watch Miku if you like. Incidentally, do you want to know how Miku reacted when she found out that Luki had sent a banshee to follow her to the Amazon forest?''

Len blinked. Wait, Rin had known about Miku and the banshee all along? Even before he had? ''Why, what did she do?'' he asked, voice soft. Oh, he sounded like such a coward. But then again, it wasn't his fault. Rin had this strange ability to make things sound a thousand times more frightening than they actually were. But he doubted she would exaggerate this time - angry Miku was scary enough as she was.

''Let's just say that Luki won't be leaving his room for the next couple of days, and we can leave it at that,'' Rin beamed, and the cheerful grin sent shivers down Len's spine. His sister had never looked more terrifying, with that giant smile plastered to her face - how could such a short blonde look so frightening?

Len realised he really was a coward, at this moment. What kind of god feared his own sister? At that thought, though, a whole list of gods ran through his mind - him, Rinto, Rei, Gumo - the list was endless. Hm. Maybe it wasn't just him then, after all. He experienced a brief moment of sadness as he realised so many gods were under the thumb of their sisters...but then, he wasn't the only one.

Goddesses were terrifying. And his sister was the more frightening goddess of all. They should just give her the title of Goddess of Fear, because she was just that nerve racking. ''Well, if you don't help me, I'll just sit here and moan the whole day about how Miku doesn't love me. And you'll have to endure my whining for the next century or so,'' Len finally resorted to using his trump card, smirking. Rin scowled.

''Little jerk,'' she muttered, pouting. She folded her arms, then started pacing the room, looking like she was deep in thought. Len just sat up in bed and began rocking back and forth idly. He had been ending up in bed a lot, recently. Due to all his injury-related...injuries. And honestly, he did not like being in bed all the time. It made him feel all stiff and uneasy, and rather useless. And wimpy. Most of all, he felt wimpy.

''You are a wimp,'' Rin said, without turning around to look at him. Len glared at his sister, then huffed, setting up mental shields around his thoughts. He had let his shields slip for a second there - it was not going to happen again. Not if he had anything to say about it. He hoped that Rin hadn't heard all his internal monologue about how frightening the goddesses were.

Because if she had heard it, she would know that he was nervous of facing her when she was angry. And he didn't need her to have a greater hold over him than she already did. Rin liked to use her very own twin brother as a rag doll and personal punching bag, in general. And he absolutely detested it. Still, there was a brother-sister bond between them - she wouldn't leave him in the lurch, would she?

The look Rin shot him when he thought that showed that yes, she would leave him in the lurch if the option presented itself. In fact, the only reason why she was even helping him in the first place was because she was tired of him being all mopy and depressing and weak, like some kind of jellyfish Kaito had washed up on the beach. And it irritated her.

How Len managed to get all that from a simple look, he himself would never know. He turned to stare down at his lap, swallowing the instinctive nervousness he felt down into his stomach. That was it. He was going to work on standing up to Rin. He would be able to do it, eventually. He was sure of that. Finally, Rin sighed, a devious glint in her cerulean eyes. She turned to stare at Len, a smirk on her lips.

''I know how you can try winning Miku's heart, Len,'' she announced cheerily, making Len perk up in hope and enthusiasm. Her smirk widened at that. ''But you're not going to like it.''


	11. Chapter 11

''This is your grand master plan?'' Len shouted at his sister, trying to make himself be heard over the deafening rush of the whirlwind his sister had conjured up. Rin shrugged at him, a familiar evil look in her eyes.

They were using the whirlwind as a form of transport - it was fun to ride the winds, but the winds that Rin summoned were always a little too violent for Len. Len preferred the balmy summer breezes, whereas his sister...she enjoyed the cold harshness of a winter storm. Being tossed around by this whirlwind, which was moving at a million miles an hour, made him feel more than just a little sick.

''Why, don't you like it?'' Rin shouted back, over the roar of the wind. Despite being in the eye of the tornado, where it ought to be calm and peaceful, the winds were simply so strong that Len was dying from the constant buffeting motion. ''We're the gods of air, Len! Suck it up! How could you not like the feeling of the wind whipping past your face?'' She shrieked loudly, throwing her hands up in the air.

It just made Len feel even more ill. One thing he had found out from travelling with his sister - high-speed winds gave him motion sickness. He had to resist this strange urge to throw up his lunch. ''Why couldn't we have just poofed there?'' he moaned, reaching out to let his fingers drag through the winds, the winds which were so violent that they were visible to anyone's eyes. Rin shrugged again.

He was beginning to hate that seemingly innocuous shrugging. ''It's been a long time since we've last travelled by air,'' was all she said in reply, not caring for the faint look of disgust her twin shot her. ''And why bother wasting our energy that way? We're just sneaking off to Luka's little hideout. You know, that hideout which she thinks that no one else knows about. It's not that far away.''

Len groaned, burying his face in his hands. ''We're going to get caught for sure,'' he whimpered, not looking forward to the idea of facing the pink haired woman's wrath. The Goddess of Love absolutely detested it whenever others started rifling through her little store of love spells - which actually happened remarkably often. The gods were fond of playing little pranks on each other.

When Rin had told him that he wasn't going to like her plan, he had been prepared for the worst - but he hadn't expected _this. _Of all the crazy, insane plans he had ever seen his sister come up with over the aeons, this one had to be the craziest one of them all. Not that Rin had seen anything wrong with her marvellous master plan. But of course, she wouldn't think that there would be anything wrong.

To fight fire with fire, that was what she had claimed. Well, Len almost wished that he had decided to go against her little idea. Stealing a love spell from Luka's little stock, then placing that spell inside Miku's food or whatnot so that she would fall in love with him? What Len had lost was his level-headedness, not his acute survival instincts. If they were ever caught, Luka would eat them alive. He was positive of that.

''Why can't we just ask Piko to shoot her with an arrow?'' Len moaned again, staring off away from Rin. Rin just drifted over to him, then smacked him on the shoulder, causing him to wince. On the surface, it had seemed like a sisterly gesture, but the blow had hurt. Almost as badly as when Luki had punched him. The bruise from the punch the God of Mischief had thrown still had yet to fade away.

''Because Piko doesn't like you,'' Rin stated baldly. ''What makes you think that he'll be willing to help you? In fact, he'd be more likely to shoot a lead arrow through her heart...not that Miku likes you all that much, as it is,'' Rin wrinkled her nose. ''Besides, you want something that will make Miku as obsessed as you are. Piko's arrows aren't that powerful, so all that leaves is Luka's love spells.''

Everyone knew about Luka's love spells. She hid them away in a little spot which she thought only she knew of - to tell the truth, more than one god had stumbled across her little cache before. In this storage, she placed all her little love spells and magic - mainly because usually, Luka was too lazy to cast spells from scratch. When she was in need of a spell, she just retrieved what she needed from her store.

And now, he and Rin were on their way to that said storage. Just so that they could raid it and steal one of Luka's potent spells...so they could slip said spell into Miku's food and make her fall for Len. Len rather liked the idea of Miku being irrevocably in love with him - except for the fact that, in order for him to achieve that level of fervent desire, he was going to have to rob Luka. And Luka would not be happy.

''She's going to find out,'' Len dead-panned, knowing that he was speaking the honest truth. ''And when that happens, we're both going to die. In the most painful, horrible way imaginable.'' Instead of blanching at his dire warning, however, Rin just waved his ominous prophecy aside, rolling her cerulean eyes in the process. Her lips turned up into a knowing smirk, and Len wondered at that.

''You're being paranoid, baby brother,'' she said cheerfully, and Len scowled at her words. Baby brother. Baby brother? Baby? He hadn't been a baby since...he forgot. And anyway, he wasn't that much younger than Rin - she was his elder sister only by three minutes. But she treated those three minutes as though they were a great deal, and she always liked to remind Len that she was older than he was.

''Don't call me a baby,'' he snapped back, though he knew that would just encourage her further. She had been calling him her 'little baby brother' for as long as he could remember, and sadly he had long gotten used to it. He just didn't wish to seem like a wimp in front of her, which was the sole reason why he even bothered making a fuss over the whole thing. ''Anyway, why can't we just ask Luka for a spell to help me?''

The incredulous look that Rin shot him made him feel as though he had just said something incredibly, extremely idiotic. ''Ask Luka? For a spell?'' she said slowly, shaking her head in what appeared to be exaggerated disappointment. ''I can't believe that you would ever suggest something as monumentally stupid as that. Honestly, I am ashamed to tell anyone that you're my younger brother.''

There she was, rubbing the 'younger brother' thing into his face. Again. Would it kill her not to make some reference to the fact that he was younger than her, every once in a while? Len folded his arms across his chest, sullen as they continued whirling their way to Luka's hideout - he had finally managed to subdue the motion sickness he had felt rising in his body. But he would never want to air travel with Rin again.

No, Len would rather prefer to remain alive. And to not be throwing up from motion sickness. ''What's wrong with that suggestion?'' he demanded, meeting Rin's disbelieving gaze. ''It's better than getting into trouble with Luka. She got the whole lot of us into this wonderful little mess - shouldn't she do something to rectify her wrong?'' he huffed, knowing that he sounded unreasonable at that moment.

Again, Rin rolled her eyes. Len did not like it when Rin rolled her eyes - it made him feel as though she was belittling him. He wasn't so stupid that she had to constantly mock him...was he? Len worried about that for a little while, but then he decided not to care about it. No, his big sister's opinions meant absolutely nothing to him. He was past the age where he looked up to his sister and all that she did.

''So you're saying that you just want to waltz into Luka's room and ask her, nicely, for a love spell so you could slip it into Miku's food,'' Rin's reply was droll. ''You're forgetting some important points to that wonderful idea of yours, Len. Firstly, we're talking about Luka here. Does Luka have any sense of wrong or guilt? No. She doesn't. What makes you think that she'd try and rectify your problem?''

Len frowned. His sister made a valid point. He opened his mouth, intending to rebut her, but before any words could escape Rin had cut right across him. ''Secondly, in case you've forgotten, your rival here is Luki...who happens to be Luka's younger brother. Even if she wished to help someone, why would she choose you over her brother? Everyone knows that she has a soft spot for Luki,'' Rin finished, satisfied.

Len's frowned deepened. Rin had made another fair point. ''I can't argue with that,'' he sighed despondently, ignoring the self-satisfied smile that Rin shot his way, at his admittance of her far more superior argumentative skills. ''But...think about it! What are the chances that we'll get caught? The odds are so against us, it's ridiculous - do you want Luka to come up with some kind of punishment for us? Again?''

The last time Rin and Len had displeased Luka, the pink haired Goddess of Love had sent them to weed and water her entire garden. And that garden had been extensively huge. Luka hadn't allowed them to leave the premises, not until she had been satisfied with their gardening. Rin and Len had left never wanting to see another rose, not ever again. Luka could be an extremely frightening goddess, at times.

Of course, the only thing they had done then was to steal her son's bow and arrows and go down to the mortal plane, wreaking havoc by shooting arrows all over the place. Naturally, they hadn't wanted her to report their misbehaviour to Rinto, their elder brother...so they had reluctantly done what she wanted, so that she would keep mum. She still held that one instant of mischief over their heads.

''You're being paranoid,'' was what Rin said in reply, though he thought he heard a little bit of uncertainty in her normally confident voice. ''We're not going to get caught by Luka, Len. So long as we remain stealthy...and hidden and unseen...nothing will happen to us!'' she finished, clapping her hands excitedly in an attempt to sound more motivated. Len just shot her a droll stare, feeling unconvinced.

''Have you actually...you know...thought through this plan of yours?'' Len asked, seeking some reassurance - though he was extremely sure that the answer would be a negative one. Rin sighed, tilting her head as she regarded him with her piercing blue eyes. In that moment, he was struck by just how alike they looked. Why were their personalities just so dissimilar? Len thought he was rather nice. Rin was not.

''Details,'' Rin said dismissively in reply, waving her hand a little too casually for his comfort. ''We'll iron those out when we get there. Anyway, why are you questioning my plan so much?'' Rin complained, shooting him a pointed look. ''Do you want to make Miku fall head-over-heels for you? Or not? Because if you do, you seem to be doing an awfully poor job of proving it,'' she folded her arms stubbornly.

''I just don't want to end up in trouble again,'' Len muttered sullenly. ''Anyway, if you don't want to get caught by Luka...don't you think that riding this gigantic whirlwind would, I don't know, catch her attention perhaps?'' Len spoke in the same pointed way as she did. ''It's rather difficult to miss a huge pillar of wind whirling around at three hundred miles per hour, you know,'' he added obnoxiously.

Rin sighed, rolling her eyes, then clapped her hands. The winds immediately ceased, and Len yelped as he found himself beginning to fall from the sky - he was falling too fast for him to summon any wind to help himself. There was the sound of snapping fingers, and then he found that he was suddenly lying flat on a cushion of air, groaning as the forceful impact registered on his battered senses.

''Where would you be without me?'' Rin's voice sounded from above him, faintly superior sounding, and aching Len raised his head. Rin was floating down on a cushion of air similar to his, wearing a smirk on her face. ''Dead,'' she answered her own question. ''You wouldn't survive three minutes by yourself, not without your big sister around to protect you,'' she beamed brightly at him, making him shudder.

''So what's the plan now?'' Len rolled over, lying on the cushion of air. Not a cloud - literally, a cushion made entirely out of air. There was nothing visible beneath him, and if he looked down he would be able to see the white fluffy clouds that made up the ground of their godly realm. He wondered what Rin would come up with, now. Floating on air could not be considered a very speedy mode of transport.

Honestly, after that whirlwind, Len thought that he needed the slow journey. Rin shrugged, a discontented look on her face. Clapping her hands again, the two clouds of air disappeared, Rin landing gracefully on the ground as she watched Len fall flat on his face. ''That hurt,'' Len complained, sitting up as he patted at his nose - he was rather worried that the impact of the fall might have broken his nose.

Rin ignored him. ''You wanted us to be inconspicuous,'' she said, sounding bored. ''So inconspicuous we shall be,'' she stared at him as he dragged himself up from the cloudy floor. ''We're going to walk the rest of the way.''


	12. Chapter 12

_**Solitaryloner: **I realised I haven't touched this story in ages. I have to stop doing that. Then again, no one has been asking me to update this, so...and my update speed usually depends on the popularity of the story, yeah?_

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So they were finally here. At Luka's little hideout. It had been a very long and tedious walk, Len thought - after all, the gods were not used to walking. Why should they have to walk when they could just appear wherever they wanted, with no more than a simple wish?

''Come on, don't give me that face,'' Rin sighed, planting her hands on her hips as she turned to stare at her brother. ''Chin up, shoulders back, let's go!'' she cried out cheerfully, pushing him down the hill into the little valley. Len yelped, tumbling down the hillside as his sister likewise slid down with him. Though Rin seemed to enjoy it a whole lot more than he himself did.

There was practically zero friction as he rolled down the damn hill. This place was half cloud, and half earth and mud. It was actually kind of disgusting, for someone who was used to the cleanliness of the pure clouds - maybe it was because he found this disgusting that Miku kept saying they weren't meant for each other. Huh. Anyway, he couldn't stop his descent down - the frictionless slope didn't let him stop at all.

It wasn't as fun as it sounded, sliding down a hill. There was mud everywhere, first of all - and the trees. There were so many damn trees, all over the place. However, by some amazing miracle, Len managed to avoid crashing into any of them. He was still hurting because of all the trees he had smashed into, recently. And he never wanted to slam into another tree again.

He also did not enjoy it much when he slid right into the lake. Face-first. He did not like that at all...mainly because he was not a very strong swimmer. Len spluttered as he tread water, his blond hair sopping wet. Rin just crouched at the lakeside, watching him with a bored expression in her cerulean eyes. ''Why didn't you stop yourself?'' she asked him. ''The lake was just right there. Right in front of your face.''

''Get...me...out of here!'' Len managed to choke out, before he sank beneath the waters again. Rin sighed, snapping her fingers - and there was her twin, suddenly shivering next to her. But at least he was no longer drowning now. Gods, she was so embarrassed to call this idiot her brother. He was...she wasn't even sure how old they were, yet he still couldn't swim.

''I'm going to ask Kaito to teach you how to swim,'' she muttered, ''before you end up drowning or something like that.'' After all, when one was drowning, one tended not to focus on the fact that he was a god and was more than capable of getting out of there by himself...or perhaps that was just for Len. Because he was the only known god who still couldn't swim. Heck, even Miku could do that.

''Shut up,'' Len glared at her, his teeth chattering as he shook his dripping hair out of his eyes. He clapped his hands, and a strong breeze sprang up around him - a minute later, the winds had disappeared, and there stood Len, now perfectly dry. Though he was still shivering. Then again, that was to be expected. The idiot had forgotten to use a warm wind to dry himself. Obviously he would still be feeling rather cold. Rin sighed.

''How many times,'' she began to lecture him, ''do I have to tell you - when you're wet, you use a _warm _wind to dry yourself. Even if it takes a longer time and isn't as powerful as a cold wind. Do you ever listen to me? No, you don't! So if you catch a cold later, don't blame me, since you're the one who brought all this upon yourself. Your impatience will be the death of you, Len. I can swear that,'' she sighed again.

Len rolled his eyes, long used to his sister's nagging. ''If you hadn't pushed me down the hill, then I wouldn't have fallen into the lake in the first place,'' he pointed out drolly. That was true, after all. ''Besides,'' he added knowingly, ''it's impossible for any of the gods to fall ill -'' his words were interrupted by a loud sneeze and a sniffle. Len rubbed at his nose, looking up to meet Rin's expectant, exasperated eyes.

Her eyes were sending a clear message - _I told you so. You just didn't want to listen to me. _Len just looked away, pouting childishly. ''You should have stopped yourself from falling into the lake,'' Rin now said, yawning as she spoke. It just indicated how bored she was with the whole thing. ''You could have stopped yourself from rolling down the hill, any time you wanted to. What happened to all your godly powers?''

Len scowled a little. ''I...I forgot that I had powers,'' he admitted sullenly. ''I mean...well, when you're rolling down a damn slope, you tend not to focus on anything other than the trees which are coming right at your face. I kind of forgot that I could just snap my fingers and appear at the very bottom of the hill, okay?'' he muttered. ''Besides, why didn't we just do that from the very start...?'' he asked defensively.

''Because it isn't as fun as sliding down the hill,'' Rin said slowly, as though stunned that her brother had asked such a ridiculous question. ''I mean, if we use our powers...poof. We're there. At the bottom of the hill. Don't you find that boring? It's just...poof. And I don't like it. Come on, you have to admit that being pushed down a hill is _much _more fun than using our godly powers!'' Rin smiled winningly at him.

Len just stared blankly at her. ''I fell into the lake,'' he pointed out. Rin rolled her eyes, waving her hand carelessly - after all, it wasn't as though she really cared _that _much for her brother. He wasn't injured, nor was he dead, and that was good enough for her. She found sliding down a frictionless slope much more fun than using her godly powers, and that was all. She was not inviting any argument here.

''You shouldn't have fallen into the lake,'' she pointed out, just as bluntly. ''And I don't see how falling into the lake affects the fun of it all. After all, you're not really wet anymore. And shouldn't falling into the lake make it all more fun?'' she paused. ''Well, it was more fun for me...'' Rin turned away from the speechless Len, looking around for the entrance of Luka's hideout.

''Over there!'' Rin now grabbed Len's hand, tugging the unfortunate blond boy along with her as she made her way to the cave entrance. Len put up minimal resistance for a while, pulling slightly against her hold, but in the end he just gave in to her, allowing his sister to drag him wherever she wanted to. Rin finally stopped at the cave, dropping Len's hand as she regarded the entrance, filled with triumph.

''Okay, now you go in, take whatever you need, make sure Luka and her sprites don't catch you...oh, and pray that Luki hasn't gotten the same idea as we did,'' Rin beamed. Len blinked - _same idea as we did? I had no part to play in any of this! Rin thought up of this ridiculous plan entirely by herself - _but before he could continue his mental tirade, Rin shoved him past the entrance, making him stumble inside.

Len brushed himself off, looking down the cave. It was dark, and he flinched at the thought of Luka finding him inside. He had never been inside the hideout before, so he had completely no idea about what he ought to expect. He glanced in the opposite direction, at the very entrance to the cave - he knew his sister was standing there, waiting for him to complete his errand. He swallowed at the thought.

It was difficult to decide which one was more terrifying, entering that darkness and risking Luka's wrath...or going back out to Rin, whilst being empty-handed. After much long and deliberate pondering, he finally decided to risk the darkness. Nothing could possibly be more frightening than Rin could be, if she realised he had failed in his task. Absolutely nothing. Len shivered at the very thought of his sister.

Slowly, Len made his way down the dim passageway, still wondering what he ought to expect. Before long, the winds whispered softly around him, and he interpreted what they were trying to tell him - _you're going to leave the passageway soon, and enter a wide cavern. The Love Goddess stores her spells in the passage to your right. Her sprites are working there. Be careful, God of Air and the Winds._

_Thank you. _He hesitated. C_ould you help me to distract the love sprites for a while? _Quietly, he beseeched his element. Despite being one of the gods who could control the primal element of air, it was always best to politely ask the elements for help. Rudely demanding Air to do something for him...well, it would carry out its task, but if it was offended, it wouldn't do it very well. Air gave its agreement, then left.

Len pressed himself against the walls of the passageway - before long, he saw the chubby little love sprites, giggling and flying after the air sprites as they all darted out of the cavern. Len exhaled in relief, then slipped away from his hiding spot, making his way swiftly down the passageway. Before long, he entered a large cavern, just as the winds had told him he would. Len then looked towards his right.

Not expecting any further obstacles, Len confidently strode over to the entrance of the new cavern - but then, the moment he stepped forward, the whole cavern seemed to spin around him, swiftly becoming a grey blur. Len blinked, shaking his head. His eyes narrowed as he looked around, annoyed. The orientation of the entire cavern had changed...he didn't know which one was the correct entrance now.

Which pretty much sucked, since there were six possible entrances he could choose from. Luka's spell to guard against possible future intruders, was it? After she finally realised that more than one god was pinching all of her love spells? Walking over, Len stuck his head into all six of the different entrances - and that didn't help at all, since all six caverns looked completely identical. He sighed, feeling rather frustrated.

His sprites were still distracting the love sprites outside...he couldn't ask them to show him the right direction again. Maybe he could borrow Rin's sprites this one time. Closing his eyes, he tried to summon them to him - but he felt resistance, and he shook his head, his fingers flying to his temples. So Rin had put her sprites under lock and key, to prevent Len from ever calling upon them. Well, that was helpful.

Len conjured a dice. Mentally, he numbered off each of the caverns, then tossed the dice. Catching it, he stared at the face of the dice - it gave him a three. So Len turned to the cavern he had labelled 'three', and strode confidently down it. The passageway was one that seemed to lead nowhere though, and before long, Len's steps were faltering as he wondered if he was going in the right direction. He pressed on.

Then he burst out into another cavern. This one was filled with...scrolls. Not spells. Len sighed - fine, he was in the wrong place, then. Idly, he moved forward, picking up one of the scrolls. Unfurling it, his eyes scanned the slightly yellowed piece of parchment. There was nothing much written on it, nothing except for four simple lines of verse, written in the very middle of the parchment. He read it out loud.

_Roses are red,_

_Violets are blue._

_A face like yours,_

_Belongs in the zoo._

Before Len could react to the stupid little poem, an iron cage suddenly sprang up around him, making him blink. Startled, he gripped the iron bars of the cage, shaking it - they didn't budge. Obviously. Len then tried to use his powers to shift out of the cage. Or to break the bars. The cage held, and he couldn't escape - evidently, this prison was one meant to hold a god.

His heart sank. So this could only mean one thing...sure enough, three seconds later, a very, very familiar pink haired woman appeared before him, her arms folded across her chest. Her light blue eyes were screaming murder, and Len swallowed. Luka didn't look too happy to see him, and honestly? Len wasn't very glad about seeing her, either. He was going to be in a whole lot of trouble now. He just knew it.

''What,'' Luka Megurine, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, hissed softly at him, ''exactly are you doing in my personal hideout, Len Kagamine?''


End file.
